Slicing art from art school’s budget

By Ryan Graczkowski

The Durham School of the Arts may be preparing to face even more severe budget cuts.

The school’s struggles are highlighted against the backdrop of the district’s move to save $20 million in education costs. The school district is looking to cut 292 positions. For the School of the Arts, that could translate into losing 15 teachers.

The school is already considering several cost-cutting measures such as increasing the class size, reducing the teachers’ pay, twoday furloughs, etc. They have already seen cuts to the summer school program and several after-school programs that were designed to help low-performing students.

Diversity opponent has good intentions

By Ryan Graczkowski

The News and Observer ran a profile yesterday on Wake County school board member John Tedesco.  Tedesco has come under fire in recent days as a sort of vanguard of the demise of the diversity policy. His outspoken defense of the committee’s decision has led to attacks on his character and attempts to endanger his job.

Yet nonetheless he persists. Not on account of any politics, he claims, but on account of his upbringing. He believes that shunting poorer students from school to school may help the schools look good, but ultimately does nothing to benefit the students themselves.

Walmart receipt clash ends in injury

By Corey Friedman

A Pennsylvania woman says her fingernail was torn off in a heated confrontation with a Walmart greeter who tried to stop her from leaving the store after she declined to show her receipt at the exit.

Susan C. Eagle was pushing a shopping cart filled with merchandise she bought at the Walmart Supercenter in Easton, Pa. March 14 when a greeter said, “I need to see your receipt.” Eagle told the woman that the receipt had been taped to the Vizio television box in her cart and continued toward the exit. The greeter repeated her demand, then grabbed Eagle and twisted her arm to prevent her from leaving, according to Eagle’s account of the altercation.

“She then grabs me by the arm and twists me, causing my finger to get caught in the shopping cart and ripping off my fingernail down to the nail bed,” Eagle wrote in an e-mail to IndeRegister.

Under Pennsylvania Statute 3929, merchants can detain someone on suspicion of shoplifting only when they have probable cause to believe a theft has occurred. Refusing to participate in a voluntary search does not provide probable cause, and store employees cannot physically restrain a customer simply because he or she chooses not to submit to a receipt check.

Eagle said she told the greeter to let her go, and the woman replied, “I’m not touching you” while maintaining her grip on the  shocked shopper’s arm.

End state employee secrecy

By Ryan Graczkowski

Seems like there are more and more perks to working for the state.

The News and Observer ran an article Monday describing the secrecy laws concerning state personnel. The policy in question shields from public view all but the most trivial information, regarding an employee’s hiring date, current position, the most recent pay changes, and whether or not their job has changed.

In short, we are allowed to see a Facebook page.

Texas: It’s like a whole other country

By Nina Kilbride

Recently, Texas educators approved a number of controversial curriculum reforms. One change in the history textbooks: as “thinkers,” Thomas Jefferson is out and John Calvin is in. Why? This is what Texas taught me about Calvin:

Calvinism is a theology of success. Calvin is the basis of evangelical social policy. Calvinistic theology drives the “material success is an indicator of God’s favor – if you are failing, you are not righteous and are not destined for heaven, f*** you” worldview. Calvinism drove American expansion for centuries, even though it usually was not labeled such.

Community schools a segregation tool?

By Ryan Graczkowski

In a 5-4 vote, the Wake County school board decided to end the diversity policy.

The diversity policy achieved nationwide acclaim on account of being based on socioeconomic factors, and not on race. Schools were not to have more than 40 percent of their student bodies relying on free lunches, and no more than 25 percent of the students reading below grade level.

The efforts by the school board to end the policy met with much resistance, leading to a lengthy and emotionally charged debate. Opponents of the school board fear that community schooling is an attempt to resegregate schools, and the board has been painted as a body of old white men largely disinterested in progress. The Rev. William Barber, head of the state chapter of the NAACP, has threatened legal action if the new policy leads to resegregation.

Smoking ban chokes individual rights

By Sami Birdsong

On Jan. 2, a smoking ban was instated, prohibiting smoking in all bars and restaurants in North Carolina. This ban was meant to help protect people from the horrid health effects that secondhand smoke causes. The violators of this ban are fined $50 for continuing to huff and puff after they have walked into an establishment which enforces this law.

Now, this ban is very beneficial in many ways, like keeping the filtered air inside clean and safe to breathe and protecting us from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. However, there is also a very important downfall to this ban, one that has been severely overlooked and almost forgotten. That downfall is the question of morality.

We, as American citizens, live in a free nation. This nation is one of religious tolerance and opportunity. It is one of the many reasons why people ever came to this country in the first place all those years ago. This freedom, however, is taken away when morality is forced upon us. There have been many examples of this throughout history, one of the most famous being prohibition. One would think after that epic failure, people would have learned that it is impossible to impose morals upon others.

At CarolinaEast Medical Center in New Bern, N.C., smoking is not allowed on the grounds, which forces people to stand out by the busy highway and smoke. This is the part of the smoking ban that I feel has gone too far. I can understand not being able to smoke in a restaurant due to the simple fact that people have a right to not choke on smoke while having a nice dinner with the family, but not being able to smoke in bars or having a designated smoking area at a hospital is just going too far.

Stop the tax-free gravy train

By Richard C. Evey

There are many organizations that are — and have been for the best part of this Republic’s history — tax-exempt. These groups are formed under what some call religion. The place of these religions are called churches, synagogues, mosques, holy places and places of worship. I will use the term “churches” in referring to all religions; if I offend someone, get over it.

These places are, in this Republic, tax-exempt; also tax-exempt is the residence that the “churches” own for the Grand Pooh-bah of that religion. Then there are the other buildings that the “churches” use for many other things that are also tax-exempt: buildings used for schools, day care, various offices, rental office space, apartments, hotels, strip malls, etc.

This tax-exempt status also goes to those religious originations based overseas: the Vatican, Church of England, Islam, Buddhism, Shinto, Judaism, Protestants and many more, too many to count.

This was my wake-up call to government and taxation.

Sent home for silence

By William R. Toler

An Onlsow County middle school student was sent home today. His offense: refusing to take tape off his mouth.

Thirteen-year-old Patrick Richmond was participating in “Silence for Christ Day” by wearing duct tape over his mouth, according to WCTI-TV.

Richmond had informed his teachers at Trexler Middle School ahead of time what he had planned to do, but when he refused to take it off in class, his teacher sent him to the principal.

Richmond and his sister were among several students symbolizing silence. Patrick, however, was the only one to hold his ground.

“The teacher asked them to remove the duct tape because it was interfering with instructional time,” said Dr. Barry Collins, assistant superintendent of Onslow County Schools. “When the teacher asks them a question, then they can’t interact, that does interfere with the academic learning process.”

The price tag: An 8 percent tax hike

By Ryan Graczkowski

One of the local controversies that has plagued Raleigh has concerned the construction of a new public safety building.

The idea of it is that the current facilities for the police, fire and emergency response departments are out of date and ultimately not able to serve the city’s needs. The center’s purpose is to consolidate these departments within an updated central location, one that presumably can meet the city’s – and ultimately the county’s – needs better.

It seems like a fairly standard building procedure. But there’s a catch to it. The city of Raleigh is also aiming to put through an 8 percent increase on the city property tax. The two are considered to be far too closely timed to be a coincidence. As a result, the city council’s been locked up in debate about this for at least the past month.